Masked
by HeirToTheShadows
Summary: Masked. On stage? A band rising to the top of the charts with their hit song 'Livin It Up'. Off stage? Four people struggling with their emotions, whether it's the confused love Neliel feels, the loneliness Lilynette feels, the emptiness Tesla feels, or the jealousy-fueled hate Nnoitra feels... that may just be growing into something more... NnoiNel, LiSta, TeSun M for a reason AU.


**A/N- So, this is the first chapter of Masked. I'm really looking forward to this fic. **

**If you have any song suggestions, feel free to tell me.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own any of the characters, or Bleach. They are the property of Tite Kubo.**

**I don't own the song used in this chapter. It's 'Livin It Up' by Kevin Rudolf.**

_**Ring ring! Ring ring! Ring ring!**_

Neliel opened her bleary eyes, grabbing for her phone. Half-asleep, she answered, "Hello?"

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!? WE HAVE PRACTICE, YOU KNOW!"

With that, the girl on the other end hung up.

Neliel opened her eyes farther, and looked at her clock.

**10:34**

"Shit!" she yelled, bursting out of bed, and falling to the ground. She glared back at the foot that had gotten tangled in the blankets while she slept. After yanking her foot out of the blankets, she dragged the top drawer of her dresser open, still kneeling on the floor. She grabbed the plain white tank top off the top, and the black jean shorts in the stack next to them. She stood up, pulling the shorts on, followed by the tank top before glancing at herself in the mirror. Hurriedly, she pulled her hair blue-green hair back into a ponytail, and rushed out of her bedroom. When she got to the front door, she slid her feet into a pair of flats, unlocking the door at the same time. She rushed through, and quickly locked it behind her.

"Hi, Nel!" a sweet, girlish voice called from behind her.

Neliel smiled, despite her hurry, and turned to the girl who had the apartment across from hers, "Hello, Orihime!"

Orihime was smiled, "Did you oversleep again, Nel? I thought you said you were going to stop staying up all night."

Neliel blushed and glanced away, "I didn't stay up all night. It was only most of the night. But I had to practice the song for our audition today!"

Orihime gasped in excitement, and crushed Neliel to her in a hug, "Audition?! I'm so happy for you! Does this mean you have all the songs for your album now?"

Neliel hugged her back, "We do! I'm so excited!"

Orihime let go of Neliel, and they both walked to the elevator, "I'm just so glad, Nel! Your dream is finally coming true."

Neliel blushed, "Well, you know I didn't write all of the songs. Most of them were written by Nnoitra."

Orihime smiled again, "Still, you are now a singer and a songwriter. That's what you want."

Neliel smiled, "Yeah. You're right."

Orihime sighed happily, "Now all you need is to become famous, and get a loving boyfriend, and you'll be living the dream life, Nel."

Neliel gave a half-laugh, "Yeah. I guess so."

Both girls got in the elevator, and Orihime hit the button for the lobby.

~Yeah… a loving boyfriend… too bad… the only guy I want would never allow himself to be submitted to 'the torture of being someone's boyfriend'…~

**Neliel** entered Nnoitra's garage and waved at the other members of the band, "Hi, guys!"

The other girl in the band whirled and glared at her, her short blonde hair smacking her in her pale lilac eyes. She was the youngest member of their band, only seventeen, but she was small for her age. She was five foot five, barely had any curves - she only wore a B-cup - and had a terrible disposition, "Why the fuck are you late? We've got our audition with the record label today!"

"Sorry, Lilynette," Neliel said, pouting, "I stayed up really late practicing last night."

The blonde man in the band walked over and patted her on the shoulder, "Its okay, Neliel. Just be more careful next time. We've got to practice before we go to our audition." He had short, slightly wavy hair, and was only a little taller then Neliel herself. His warm brown eyes, however, had seemed dead for as long as she had known him.

"I don't give a fuck why you were late, bitch. Don't ever do it again," a rough voice echoed from behind her.

~Nnoitra...~ she thought to herself, turning around.

He was leaning against the wall of the garage, glaring at her with his tight purple eyes.

"You don't have to be rude, Nnoitra," she said, voice overly cool. She never knew why she spoke to him that way, but she always did.

"Hey, Neliel!" Lilynette's voice called. Neliel turned once again, "We've changed our audition song. We decided to do the one you wrote."

"M-My song?" Neliel asked, her wide hazel eyes going even wider, "B-But it's not as good as any of Nnoitra's, and we haven't practiced it as much, and, and-"

"Shut up, woman," Nnoitra said, "We're doing your song. Now come on, we have to practice."

Everyone took their places: Nnoitra at his drum set, Tesla picked up his bass, Lilynette snatched her guitar off the rack, and Neliel stood in front of her microphone.

"Okay, guys. One, two, three, one two three four!" Neliel said.

Tesla started a beat, and quickly Lilynette joined in with a long note on her guitar. Nnoitra started in at the same time as Lilynette, and the intro quickly came to a close.

_"He'd bring me flowers on a Sunday with a bottle of wine, oh oh,"_ Neliel sang, _"but, I got my fingers in the cookie jar, I ain't got the time, no oh."_

_"And you say that, actions speak louder. So why you talking so much?" _she continued, _"Well, you want me to be more specific, is it that you love me that you love me so much?"_

Lilynette joined in for the chorus, _"And I can't speak, not that I ever wanted to. I just dream cause, well, living is hard. Don't pity me, just keep moving along. I'll be livin it up, livin it up, livin it up. Yeah, oh."_

_"Now, I remember how when we met he said he knew he'd be mine, woah,"_ she sang, Lilynette's voice dropping out, _"But now he looking crazy in the face, he want to skin me alive, woah."_

_"And you say that you can recommend it, you were the king of the pearl,"_ the song continued, _"But you act like you are so offended, but it's in it, I just don't give a fuck."_

_"And I can't speak, not that I ever wanted to. I just dream cause, well, livin is hard,"_ she sang, Lilynette joining her once again, _"Don't pity me, just keep moving along. I'll be livin it up, livin it up, livin it up. Yeah, woah, oh."_

_"Then I realized I was alone, so I got my fix,"_ she sang, mind leaving her as she Became part of the song, _"But the next time he come home, imma call it quits."_

The girls sang, _"And I can't speak, not that I ever wanted to. I just dream cause, well, livin is hard. Don't pity me, just keep moving along. I'll be livin it up, livin it up, livin it up."_

They sang the chorus again, Tesla joining this time as well, _"And I can't speak, not that I ever wanted to. I just dream cause, well, living is hard. Don't pity me, just keep moving along. I'll be livin it up, livin it up, livin it up."_

_"Livin it up, livin it up, livin it up. Livin it up, livin it up, livin it up, livin it up. Livin it up, livin it up, livin it up," _she sang, and the song started drawing to a close, _"Livin it up, livin it up, livin it up. Livin it up, livin it up, livin it up. Livin it up, livin it up, livin it up!"_

**Neliel** opened her eyes and looked at the men who would decide if their band was about to get a contract. Each man had a name plate in front of him, and each man's expression was as different as their names. One of the men was scowling off into space, and Neliel couldn't tell if this was a normal expression for him or if it was caused by their song; his name plate read 'Kaname Tousen'. Another of the three was smiling off into the corner, and once again, Neliel couldn't tell why; his nameplate read 'Gin Ichimaru'. The third man was the one that Neliel felt like she needed to impress. It was this man that was really in charge; his name plate read 'Sosuke Aizen'.

"So, the four of you are prepared to sign a contract with us right now?" Aizen, the head of Arrancar Records asked.

The four of them exchanged excited glances. Neliel spoke for all of them when she said, "Yes."

Gin waved the contract, "Then come down here and sign."

The four members all walked to the table with the three men at it and - after reading carefully through the contract - signed. They were contracted for two full albums, one being the one they had already written.

"You'll start recording tomorrow," Tousen said, not looking at them, "You have all sixteen songs written for your debut, but do you have any other songs yet?"

Nnoitra spoke, "I don't, and I wrote most of the songs."

Neliel shot Nnoitra a glare, "I don't either, but I intend to write more for our next album."

"Calm down, calm down," Aizen chuckled, "It's perfectly okay that you don't have any other songs yet. We'll just wait and see what the future holds."

Neliel smiled at Aizen, "Yeah. So, after we record, how long until the record comes out?"

"Well, it will probably take about a month to record the album, and then we'll release the song you just sang for us as a single. We'll wait about another month and release another single. After that, we'll wait about two months and release the album. That sound good for you guys?"

They all looked each other and nodded.

"Good. We'll see you all tomorrow, then."

They shook hands with the men, and then the band left.

Neliel glanced once at Nnoitra after they had exited the building and she had said goodbye to the members of her band.

~Oh, Nnoitra… you're just so dumb. Why can't you realize that all the songs I write are about you?~


End file.
